Youth-Friendly DC is the official blog for the DC Alliance of Youth Advocates (DCAYA). We are dedicated to the mission of providing DC's children and youth with a safe, healthy and productive future.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Escuchame! Searching for the Latino Youth Voice

All youth deserve to be heard.They provide valuable information about their
thoughts, their needs, their struggles, and their dreams.If we listen carefully enough, we can
incorporate their ideas into improving our schools, programs, and communities. But what happens when that
voice is hidden or comes in another language?Do we stop listening?Do we
ignore it altogether?

Recent
census numbers show that the Latino population in Washington DC is growing
consistently and significantly, currently representing 9.1% of the
population.This reflects an increase of
nearly 22% from 2000, and is expected to continue growing at a rapid pace.While some of this is due to immigration
trends, many of these new Latinos are US born-youth and children, who are
growing up to face the same economic and social challenges that other urban
communities of color face.Yet, when it
comes to Latino youth, there is often a huge information gap, and as a result, their
voice is stifled.

Despite this growth,
Latino youth are often seen as an elusive population, prone to under-counting
and not widely represented in studies and reports.Over the last 9 years as I have worked as a social
worker serving these youth and families in DC, I have stopped to
ask myself "why?"Why are Latino youth
living in the community not being counted?Why are their voices not heard?What can we do to seek out and listen to the Latino youth voice?

Released in October, the DCAYA report Connecting
Youth to Opportunity:Better
Understanding Disconnected Young People in Washington, DC, made an
interesting breakthrough.Approximately
26% of the youth participants in the DCAYA study identified as being Hispanic
or Latino.Why is this significant?It demonstrates that this is not an issue
that only impacts the communities “east of the river” but that neighborhoods
like Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, and Petworth also contain high numbers of
disconnected youth.But quite simply, it
reveals how Latino youth have been consistently underrepresented in previous
studies leaving them without the advocacy needed to support them.Young people in Washington DC continue to
battle poverty, homelessness,
violence, unplanned pregnancy, trauma,
and lack of educationaland
employment
opportunities.Latino youth are not immune to these problems,
yet we often don’t hear about their experiences, their stories of struggle and
triumph.

There are numerous possible factors that contribute to this
missing voice and under-counting, including fear of interaction with government
or those perceived to be linked to government.Although they are US-born, Latino youth may have family members who are
undocumented, and that is enough to silence them.Community based organizations like the Latin AmericanYouth Center, Mary’s Center, La Clinica del Pueblo, and Carecenhave
worked hard to establish trust with Latino families and youth.At the Latin American Youth Center, we make
every effort to amplify that youth voice, and have tasked ourselves with the
challenge to better serve their needs, but this issue is so much bigger than
us.By reaching out the community as
DCAYA did, valuable information from Latino youth was included in their results
and recommendations.All across the 8
wards of the District, organizations are working with Latino youth, and we need
them all to listen carefully and contribute to the conversation.It is incumbent upon us as service providers,
youth advocates, and government entities, to seek out the Latino youth voice,
partner with community organizations, and make sure that all residents of the
District are counted and heard.We need
to listen carefully, because Latino youth have a lot to say.

Susana Martinez is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker who has worked with Latino communities in Texas and Washington, DC, and has expertise in providing clinical and case management services to immigrant families, victims of domestic violence, and youth and families within the child abuse and neglect system.